Kuchi o akete
by Sky.Fay
Summary: Chiriko has a sister, and she's been searching for the two surviving seishi for two years! Finally, she finds Tasuki, and learns of her brothers tragic and heroic end. That night, Taiitsukun comes to her in a dream telling her that she will fight a dark force, and the next morning her and Tasuki set out to find Chichiri, and being their quest. Comedy, drama, and romance unfolds!
1. Ototo

"Feh, best sake in town my a…"

"Wait stop!" He shrugged through the rows of people lining up to get food at the market. "Shun'u!" They could've been calling to someone else. But nobody knew that… "Tasuki!" But there was something familiar in an underlying tone in that voice. He stopped, and some people stared as a small girl politely shoved her way through the crowd. "I…" she was out of breath, "Please slow down, I need to talk with you. I've been looking for you for a very long time." Her hair was a familiar brown color, and her skin was the same snowy pale. "Can we step away from all of these people for a moment?"

But her eyes were different. Her eyes were dark and deep, but blue. "Who are you?" He asked quietly as she walked with him to a secluded corner.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she bowed her head, "I'm Ou Doukun's older sister."

"Who?"

She looked confused, and almost hurt. "Chiriko, he was of the Suzaku Seven. You were of the Suzaku Seven, were you not?"

"Of course I'm part of the Suzaku-!"

"Good, I needed to know if you could tell me about him. I was never given a letter from the palace or anything really. I figured he went back to studying because that's what he really enjoys. But it's impossible to know anything when…when you're parents are gone."

She had to be joking! To pretend to be related to Chiriko, and mock him like this, it was sick.

"I'm Wen by the way."

She was sick, and disgusting.

"Are you kidding me?"

"What?"

She pretended to look so hurt when he said that, it just made him even more mad.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"What are you-?"

"Shut the hell up, and listen to me! You better go back to whatever hole you came from, and don't you dare search out Chichiri to pull this sick joke again. Chiriko died, you swine!"

She froze; her attempts of arguing were done. Her mouth was caught open. Her mind was racing. He didn't believe her, and Chiriko was dead. The sun was beating down on them, and she was hungry and tired. Black dots swam in her vision, and then…

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" Tasuki panicked as she fell into his arms. Maybe she hadn't been lying. Her hair was so similar to his, and she even kind of looked like an older version of the young boy. And not many people would know Chiriko's name given to him by his parents.

As he cradled her in his arms, her eyes blinked open. As he was about to apologize, she panicked and flailed out of his arms. "I'm sorry," she whispered from the ground, "Just don't touch me. And I'm sorry that you don't believe me, and that I fainted. I'll be going now." She turned, almost weeping into her sleeve.

"Wait! Wen, that's your name, right? Wen?" She slowed, and turned to her side. "Come with me, I can bring you to a place a bit more private than this, and explain some more things."

She thought about it for a moment before trusting the man. "Alright, but I'm leaving as soon as possible."

"C'mon, kid, all of the good taverns will be closing down soon if you don't hurry!" He called back to her.

"I'm not a kid." She whispered.

"I'm sorry," he said, "So, how old are you?" He tried to sound conversational, but the words were forced. The weight of the loss was fresh again, and it was almost too much. But there was no way he was crying in front of this girl.

"I'm s-sixteen," she stuttered, keeping her eyes on the road. "I'm…or I guess I was," she tried laughing at her mistake, but instead let out a hiccupping sob, "a little over a year older than Doukun." She kept a hand clamped over her mouth, in an attempt to quiet the sobs. "Sorry, I'm usually a silent crier, but I guess since I haven't in so long…"

"Crying is fine." He tried to speak with the dry lump in his throat, but it was difficult. "I did too, and so did the other warriors."

The streets became less and less crowded as they neared the good outskirts of the city. This place used to be bad, full of thugs, and traffickers, but once the war had ended, the streets had been cleaned up a little.

"How did he die?"

Tasuki had hoped that she wouldn't ask any questions until she was ready, and there was no way that she could be already. Besides, they were nearing the tavern where he wanted to speak with her, this couldn't be done in the streets.

"Answer me, please. It's alright if it wasn't pretty. I knew from the moment he set out that he might not make it back, he even said so. And since I didn't hear from the palace, and he hadn't come home. I've been looking for you or Chichiri for two years." She took a breath. "I kind of figured, but it's alright now that you've told me. But now I need to know."

He looked at her for a moment, trying to decide if she was serious or delusional. "I'll tell you when we get in there. I'm already renting a room, we can go up there."

She looked ready to argue, but pursed her lips at the last moment, and clamped her hands together as he held open the door for her. Nobody spared them a second glance as they entered. Everyone was either too engrossed in their food or their sake.

"I'll grab some food, and bring it up. I'm in the last room on the left."

"Okay." She breathed, wandering toward the almost hidden staircase. He watched her until she was completely out of sight, and turned to the man behind the counter.

"Your girlfriend seems pretty sad, Mister." The small man behind the wood counter was mixing rice in a bowl.

"She's not my girlfriend." He glared at the little man until he was almost cowering in fear.

"Oh, well that's alright too, buddy, I didn't mean to-"

"No, you didn't, and I need two bottles of sake, and some hot soup."

He nodded, ducking his head as he retrieved the food and beverages. Tasuki slammed his money down on the table as the man did so, making him jump. "Here you go, sir." The response that he gave the small worker was barely a grunt.

"Wen?" He asked softly, as he entered the room. She was leaning against the open window, letting the cool breeze float in. It was always hot in Konan, but with the new year around the corner winter was full on, but it felt like spring.

The sky was dusty with pink clouds that spattered across the periwinkle sky. The empty land went on for miles before a lush forest started. The wind blew her choppy bangs away from her face, and little strands of hair fell out of her hair, braided like a crown atop of her head. Her eyes were glossy, and her face was pink.

"Wen?" He asked again, a little louder this time.

She spun around. "Sorry, I was just looking at the sky. Now," her voice was done wavering and she was solid again, "Tell me how."

"Oh, right, of course. Well," he sat down on the creaking bed, smoothing out the gray sheets, "You can sit if you like."

"I'll be fine."

"I just don't want-"

"Stop stalling and tell me." Her whisper was deadly.

"Yeah, right, so…" he explained the journey, and briefed her on what had already happened. He had to clench his fists when he began talking about Miboshi, and his what he had done. Finally, in a whisper, like he was talking to himself, he told her about the valiant little boy who had sacrificed himself. When he finished, she was silent, like she was waiting for more, but nothing more came.

"My baby brother killed himself to protect all of you?"

"…Yes."

"Alright," she chewed the inside of her lip, "You were like a brother to him, and you were very kind to him. Thank you, even though I know he loved me, I could tell he always wanted an older brother or a least father who was there."

"Yeah, I guess he was like a little brother." He smiled down at the floor remembering, and thinking about his own family. They were far away now, something he relished in.

"You wanted a brother as well."

"Yeah, I guess…" he looked up at her, suddenly suspicious and curious, "How could you tell?"

"I just can. I'm just very…observational." Her eyes darted to wall as she avoided his tough gaze.

"It's more than that." He insisted. "Why did you panic when I held you?"

"I was surprised." Her deadpan moved back to him, and he found himself entranced by her eyes. "It's getting dark, I should go."

"Wait!" He was faster than anything, jumping up and grabbing her wrist. She looked back at him like a scared animal. "I didn't mean to…" he let go of her arm. "Where do you live? I don't want you to get hurt, and it's late."

"Places, and I'll be fine."

"You live in 'places'? That's shocking." The side comment bursting out of his mouth before he could think about holding it back. "Here, at least stay and eat something. I bought that for you. I've already eaten, and you look tired."

She breathed in deeply through her nose, considering. "Fine, I'll stay for a few more hours."

"Then you'll let me bring you to the place you're living?" It was more of a statement, but she took another breath of decision.

"Fine."

As they sat on the bed, she glanced at the bottles of sake. "Are you planning on getting drunk?"

"Feh, it would take a lot more than that to get me off! I know good sake when I smell it, and this is alright."

She sipped from the bowl quietly, nodding her head.

"You could have some, I suppose."

Her head stopped mid-nod, and she set the empty bowl down on the night stand. "I've never had alcohol before. I don't really intend on drowning my sorrows in them tonight either." He would've retorted if she hadn't looked so solemn.

"I'm not saying you have to." He carefully opened the bottle. "I just figured I'd share this because it's so good."

She hesitantly watched him take a swig. "What does it taste like?"

He grinned, pleased with her sudden interest in the drink. "Well, there are different kinds. Usually I like ones that are a little more plain, and dry. But this one is sweet, it won't burn as much, and it has less alcohol in it." He checked off on his fingers, trying to remember all of the facts he could about his beloved drink.

"I suppose," she carefully held out her hand to take the bottle, "I haven't had fresh water in days, so I guess this is better than nothing." Slowly, she put the bottle to her lips and took the smallest sip. Tasuki couldn't help but laugh at the pinched face she made. "It burns…" she whined.

"You get used to it after a while, and I like that part." The whisper of a smile was behind her eyes, but it disappeared so quickly, Tasuki thought he might be seeing things. "You really should stay the night." He said, standing and walking to the window. After staring into the night's sky for a moment, he slid it shut. She yawned, and curled up on the bed.

"I guess I could, but since you're so insistent, I think you can sleep on the floor."

"Hey! That's not fair, I'm the one who…feh, never mind, you can have it." She tossed the blankets onto the floor without looking at him.

"It's warm enough anyway, you can have these."

The dim light of a small lantern lit their room. Tasuki sat on the floor with his back against the bed, listening to her breath and drinking the sake. She had fallen asleep surprisingly fast. He washed down the last drop of sake without any notice, and put the second bottle on the stand with the first.

Stretching, and standing up to take off his long jacket and roll it into a ball for a pillow, he watched her face. She looked in pain, like she was scared, but her gentle breathing told a different story. Chiriko had never really spoken of his life at home, and he had never said anything about a sister. Here she was though, with her hair just like his, and her voice just as soft and gentle. But her demeanor was different than his had been. Tasuki was sure that if he had met her under any other circumstance less somber than this, she would ten times as feisty. Even today she had proved how guarded and passionate she was.

He decided that he needed to protect her. For Chiriko's sake, and for his. If this was the little boys sister, than they were already friends. And how he still missed the other seishi still. He felt the need to find Chichiri, and soon. It wasn't just that he missed his friend, he could tell something was about to change. Something big was coming, and they needed to be together for this.

"Taiitsukun…" Wen breathed in her sleep. She looked confused, and a little horrified. Tasuki was sure he would find out in the morning. Besides his eyelids were already getting heavy…

It seemed as soon as Wen fell asleep she was assaulted by a dream. When the old hag woman appeared, she was sure this was a bad one. But as she reached a hand down to pinch herself before this got too bad the woman rolled her eyes.

"Enough, child, do not give me that look. I am Taiitsukun, and I am a powerful sage. I am here to look over you." Without giving her time to reply she moved on. "You are very important, Wen. You will have to defeat a dark force coming to this realm. You will not be alone on your journey, so do not fret, but you _alone_ must truly defeat this dark force."

As she opened her mouth to speak, no words came out. Wen's voice was stuck in her throat, and the old hag just chuckled.

"We will not meet for very long time, or possibly ever, child. Use this knowledge well. Now wake!"

"What?" She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. "What was that?" She glanced over the side of the bed to look down at Tasuki, who was curled up like a child in his mound of blankets.

"Of cour' I wan' more sake…" he giggled.

"Tasuki, wake up. Tasuki!" When the yelling didn't succeed, she gave him a swift kick to the back. A hand, almost too quick for her to see, shot out and grabbed her ankle, pulling her down to the ground. "Tasuki!" He flipped over to face her. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Oh, I didn't mean to…c'mon, give me some slack. It's early, and I'm tired. You kicked me…"

"Shut up, ass, and just get up, I have to tell you something." He shuffled to his feet, and was about to sit down when he glanced at her kimono.

"You should," he cleared his throat, "You should get situated first."

"What do you…?" She glanced down at her green kimono. Saying it had loosened in the night would be a bit of an understatement. She pulled it tightly across her body, and tightened the sash. "I met a woman name Taiitsukun in my dream. She told me I would have to face a… dark force, I think is what she said."

"You had a dream with the old hag, that's rough."

"What do I do know, just wait for some 'dark force' to show up, and then challenge it to some death match?" Tasuki chuckled at her frustration.

"We need to find Chichiri, he's the other Suzaku Seishi besides me. Last I knew he was in a small village doing…doing something."

She watched him blankly. "Your ambiguity is charming."

"Shut up, it's not like I know everything he's doing all the time."'

"Either way," she groaned and sat up from the bed, "I suppose we should head out now."

"Wait, you're just going with this? You're not going to question anything?"

"Tasuki, strange things happen to me all the time. I have dreams about the future; I can sense people auras, and a few more things. Nothing is really surprising anymore."

He watched her as she sat on the window ledge, and leaned out of it.

"Be careful, will ya'?!"

Her loud sigh echoed in the room. "Calm down, watashi no aisuru shōnen."

"Hey!"

"Get over it, you're a big boy."

"You little…"

"C'mon, Tasuki-bō! It's going to be noon by the time we get out of here if you don't hurry up!"

The sun was warm, set in a soft halo around her. Her smile, though still full of hidden sorrows, was present; something Tasuki was happy about. She hopped down from the window, breaking the pleasant silence with the sound of her feet hitting the creaky, wooden boards, and dashed out of the room.

"You're taking too long, and I have something I need to get!"

Of course, he could have easily caught up to her, and stopped her, but where would the fun be in that? So he let her run away, counting the seconds on his fingers. Thankfully, the room was already paid for. Whoever cleaned the place could take care of the empty bottles, and the bowl.

As he ran, smooth dirt kicked up around him like a personal dust cloud. He could barely see her head through the small crowd, already forming on the streets. Her diminutive height didn't quite help him either. Then, in an instant, he lost her. He looked around, becoming flustered. The crowd around him grew larger, the noises grew louder, it was getting hotter. Then, a scream.

A high-pitched scream of terror. He rushed in its direction as time sped up again, and the world balanced out. His head was clear, and the fog had lifted.

"Let go of her." He growled to the dirty man, holding Wen against a stone wall by her neck.

He slang his head in the general direction of Tasuki. "Or else what, buddy? You're kind of little aincha'? Too little to threaten me!" He bellowed. His pot belly shook with the enormous laughter that followed. The man was obviously drunk, and was obviously smaller than aforementioned Celestial Warrior.

"Put her down, or you'll get burned."

Wen's face was getting red as she struggled for breath and kept her eyes locked on Tasuki's.

"What do ya'…doya' think you're gonna' do? Fan me sho hard I'll jus' catch aferr? Getchur mind straight fang boy-"

"REKKA…SHINEN!" A centered tube of flames shot past Wen, and knocked her attacker off his feet. The man was left, badly burned and slightly disfigured, but alive.

She rubbed at her neck, still watching him as he put the fan back in its place. "…Thanks, but that," she took a balancing breath, "That was pretty damn hot."

"You can't just thank me can you?"

"Now!" She turned on her heel as if nothing had happened, and continued walking down the empty alley to a large wooden crate which she promptly opened. "I need to get changed, so I suggest you turn around and guard me."

"You live here?" He asked incredulously.

"Only on the off-weeks." She tried answering slyly, but it came out sad and almost pathetic. "Now turn!" She ordered, pulling out a pair of pants, new looking boots, and shirt with long hanging sleeves. He obeyed in an instant.

The pants and lace-up boots were black, and the soft, silk shirt with kimono-esque sleeves was a deep purple. It wrapped around her, and was tied shut only by a black embroidered obi.

"Alright," she called as she ran up behind him, "It's alright now. I guess that didn't really matter. I am wearing a moxiong under these."

"I-I-I didn't need to know _that_!"

"Oh look, your face is redder than your hair."

He muttered under his breath as they walked from the alley, and into the already crowded streets. Thankfully it wasn't sweltering, but the massive amounts of people didn't exactly help with trying to stay cool. It was the merchant's week. People came from all over parts of Konan, probably elsewhere just to buy stuff from them. Everything was inexpensive for a few days, and since the harvest season had just ended, the best of the crop was being sold.

Some sellers would sprinkle water around their booths and stand so the dust wouldn't kick up as badly as it had lately. It would get into the lungs of people, and ruin the meat. Though, that was the least of their worries. Even though this seasons crops had been plentiful, there was something strange happening. Their animals were dying out of nowhere, and their water for the plants was getting worse. Fish was drying for some unknown reason, polluting the streams and rivers.

As Wen and Tasuki left, his bag filled with bread and dried meat, both were quiet. The bustle of the crowd lessened the further they got away from the main city. Soon enough there wasn't a person in sight, and they were nearing the tree line. The sound of people was gone, and replaced with birds and animals.

"How can you be alright?" He finally asked, not being able to look at her. She had found out that her brother had died yesterday, she had to fight a dark force, and she was seemingly chipper as ever setting out on a quest.

"Heh," her eyes were grim and serious, "Well, I guess I'm just the kind of person who internalizes things. As long as I start to pretend everything is okay, then it will be soon enough."

"But how can you just-"

"Listen, Tasuki, that doesn't mean I'm not upset. It just means I'm not going to be bawling for hours on end until in front of you from dawn till dusk." He remained silent until they were a good way into the forest.

"What the hell?" After a few hours they had stumbled upon a dead dear in the middle of the path. Wen stood up on her tip-toes to look over his shoulder.

"Why didn't the hunter take it? It looks like it's been here for a few days." She recoiled away from it, holding her nose. "That's disgusting."

"There's not an arrow in it…" He shrugged, stepping over it. Wen was quick to sprint around it, sensing something strange as she did.

"That's weird…" She whispered, turning her head back to watch it.

"What?" Tasuki asked, keeping his eyes ahead on the darkening path.

"Nothing. Hey, what was the name you had when you were with those bandits in the mountains?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"I'm just curious."

"You knew my real name, how the hell don't you know what I was called?"

"I can't know everything." She mumbled, pulling out some of the pins in her hair, and letting it out of the braid. It fell down her shoulders in sections until it smoothly hit the top of her hip. "Uhg, I need a haircut."

"They called me Genrou if you must know." He said at last, after minutes of silence that had dragged on. "Now, are you sure there isn't anyone that's going to miss you back there? That'd be pretty terrible to just get up and leave like this."

"No, I don't think anyone will worry." She smiled pleasantly.

"Are you sure? You don't have any relatives, or friends, or a boyfriend?"

She snorted loudly. "No, no, and definitely NO. What about you?" She asked, snickering. "Do you have any friends or family or girlfriends you're leaving behind?"

"Pfft, as if."

"Oh, please, I'm sure you left behind hundreds of lovesick girls you spun around with for a few days."

He stopped dead in the middle of the dark path, staring up at the sky. "I would never do that to anyone! I don't even like girls, an—what the hell does 'spun around with' even mean?!"

His outbursts made her close her mouth, and watch him, seriously. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize. If you like men that's alright! I know some people aren't really comfortable-"

"That's not what I meant." He snapped.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense. Were your sisters really that terrible to you?" She inquired. His downcast eyes snapped up to look deep into her.

"How do you know about…? How much do you know?"

He would find out eventually, but now wasn't the time. She played around with the thin, red hair ribbon similar to Chiriko's, mind racing for a plan that would distract him from the question. "Right now it doesn't matter how I…" She froze, mouth hanging open.

"Well, spit it out. I just want to know. Did Chiriko send you letters? I didn't really tell him a lot, but he probably overheard…"

She shushed him, slowly bringing a hand up to her mouth. "Be quiet, and keep walking."

"No way in hell am I going anywhere until you tell me."

"There's something in the woods, and it's big. Be quiet so it doesn't notice us, you ignorant ass!" She whispered.

"Oh, please, if there's something here I can beat it whatever it is. COME OUT AND SHOW YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!"

"Tasuki, shut up!" She hissed as he stomped around, calling for it.

"Hey, I guess you're kind of like Chichiri. He can sense things like this too. Chiriko would get frustrated when he couldn't do the things that Chichiri can. NOW COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!"

"Shut up, dammit!"

As he opened his mouth to speak, a low rumbling came from the ground. It shook the leave off of trees, and the animals squawked flying or running as far away as they could. And as soon as it had started, it stopped. The shaking stopped, and everything was eerily silent.

"See, whatever the hell that was, was too scared to come and fight me." He boasted, continuing on the path. Wen stayed where she was. "The hell is wrong with you?" Her eyes were glued to a high point behind him.

"You should turn around."

"What? Did he finally show…up." He squeaked. A forty foot long worm was coiling its way through a hole in the ground. It was all white, with blue slime that was secreting from its tree-trunk sized body. It had rows of dirty, sharp teeth, and smelled like decay. "Che…I could destroy you with my eyes closed! REKKA…SHIN-"

But as he said it the beast moved faster than expected, behind them. It looked ready to strike, like a snake watching its prey. Wen reached down as slowly and carefully as she could to grab a rock off the ground, and pull a smooth dagger from her boot.

"Shit, that thing moves fast." He muttered.

"Shh…" she whispered. "When I throw this, that thing will be distracted. Kill it then, alright?" Not giving him a chance to respond she threw the rock about a hundred feet. It landed loudly on the ground. The worn snapped its soft head around to look back, and darted toward it.

"REKKA SHINEN!" He said it so quickly, that she was worried the spell might not work. The worm looked back one more time before it was scorched to death. After a minute, Wen took a breath. "That's strange; monsters haven't been after me in a while. And the last time they were…"

"What happened the last time?" She begged urgently. He looked away from the beast, and back to her.

"Tenkou, he was an evil man that turned into a phantom. He was King of the Four Demon Gods. Sure caused a hell of a lot of unnecessary trouble." He cringed, thinking back to the inn he had forced Miaka to go to and…but no. He needed to remind himself that he had been put under a spell, there was nothing he could have done about his actions.

"I would imagine that this has to do with whatever Taiitsukun wants me to do then." She added.

"Yeah, we better find Chichiri soon."

* * *

**So, um, yeah. This is my first Fushigi Yuugi fic, and I've had this idea for so long of Chiriko having an older sister, you don't even know. Updates will be kind of infrequent until I finish up a couple other of my fic's which should be soon! :) I hope you like this, and don't forget to review. Oh, and don't worry about all of the mystery around her, that'll be explained in a chapter or two, and I'll try to make most of my chapters as long as this so...yeah, see you soon!**


	2. Bandit Fire

Tasuki barely complained for the next four hours that they walked. He took on the role as leader, and decided to shut up for once. Though every time his feet hit the ground he felt the need to whine. But now wasn't the time. Besides, he was almost twenty years old, at some point he needed to grow up. Today definitely wasn't the day, and Suzaku knows when, but at least it was progress.

As he poked at the dying fire, his eyes kept glancing back to the girl lying before him. Her breathing had been even for a while. She hadn't spoken much since the worm attack. Her mind had been drifting between this new quest, and the realization that her old one, the one to discover the fate of her brother, had ended so abruptly. Tasuki stared deep into the last dying ember in the fire, trying to figure out what was going on in her head. He couldn't understand her most of the time, she was a mystery. Then, on the other side, she was maddening and such a smartass, he had trouble not getting frustrated.

In fact, Wen wasn't sleeping. Even though her breathing was steady, tears leaked out of her tired eyes. She could feel Tasuki watching her, wondering. He was curious. And how couldn't he be? She had already blurted out too much about his past, and given away more clues about herself than she needed to. Then again, her little brother had been a Celestial Warrior chosen by a god; maybe she wasn't so strange after all.

If they were going to travel together, she thought, she would have to tell him at some point. Tell him everything that is. She just felt like a freak, and didn't want to let people into that. It was difficult, but she wasn't wallow in pity. When she was younger, she would hide away from everyone just to avoid anything. Nobody had ever been able to hold her, or touch her on the hand once without repercussions.

Once, when Chiriko had been very small, he ran up to her, excited about learning something new.

_"Sister! Sister!"_

_ "What is it-"_

_ His arms circled around her knees, and she froze._

_ "What's wrong, Wen?" His giant emerald eyes bore into her navy, while she bit the inside of her lip. His short life passed before her eyes. He was so much simpler than any of the adults who had touched her before, but it still wasn't right. He was five, how was she supposed to explain this to him? _

_ "Nothing," she laughed and pushed him away, "C'mon, let's go for a walk. The trees are really pretty this time of year."_

"We've been walking forever, can't we just stop!"

Wen had had it. He had complained exactly thirteen times in the last ten minutes. "I'm done. If you want to complain, you can head back to the city, and live out the rest of your life being a bum. I don't care what kind of so-called warrior you are! We've been walking for an hour. I want to find Chir-Chichiri, and find out what the hell sort of reason I saw that hag in my damn dream!" She became so flustered she almost misspoke. Chichiri's name was similar to Chiriko, and with her little brother already on her mind she couldn't think straight.

He still looked shocked. "I'm sorry, I guess I just sort of…"

"It doesn't matter," she smiled loosely, "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just on edge. I mean, what if we run into some really bad bandits, or it starts pouring?" She was almost chuckling by the end.

"I really don't understand women." He groaned.

"And I really don't understand whiny, little boys. I guess we're incompatible."

"Incom-what? Hey, what did you say about bandits?!" He jogged up beside her.

She looked as if she was worried for his health. "I said it would be bad if we ran into some bad bandits."

"Oh, okay, _bad_ bandits. As long as you don't think all bandits are bad."

"Uh, huh." She brushed him away, sweeping her eyes to the forested path ahead once more.

"Because they're not, you know. See I'm a bandit. Leader of Mount Reikaku Bandits in fact."

"Lovely."

"Well, we just steal from the rich, and give to the poor. That's how it is under me anyway, and I usually check in to make sure my second-in-charge is doing the same." He caught her roll her eyes out of the corner of his. "What's so wrong with that?!"

"My parents were robbed by bandits once. They were wealthy. I just don't have much respect for someone who steals from people who have worked long, and hard to get to the point that they're at. It's rude, wasteful, and just plain juvenile."

"W-well, it's not like we go around stealing from everyone! Only people who seem like real pigs. I'm sure it wasn't us who stole from your parents." He said under his breath.

"I know it wasn't. I'm just proving a point." She took a long side glance at him. "And getting you flustered in the process."

"Feh…wasn't flustered."

"You were flustered."

"Was not!"

"I'm not going to argue with you." Her tone was condescending, and almost motherly.

"Hey, if you're going to act like a brat the entire trip, I'll just throw you off on the side of the path. You can find your own way." It was a bluff. He couldn't throw Chiriko's sister, let alone someone who looked so much like him to fend for themselves. Carefully he watched the muscles in her neck tense up for a moment. He couldn't read the blank look on her face, and it was driving him insane. In a certain way he wanted to comfort her, and tell her even more wonderful things about her late brother, but couldn't quite bring himself to get those words out past the hard ball that formed in his throat whenever he tried.

"I'm sorry." She said after forever. "I'm frustrated, and I shouldn't take it out on you." Her voice faltered with every word. "I haven't had a really conversation with someone in so long. I haven't walked with another person in months. I guess it's just kind of tiring to have to talk with you so much, or just walk near you."

"So now are you gonna' tell me how you know so much about me?"

"I just got in touch with your fan club. It was easy enough." She walked ahead of him, take two long strides for every single on he took.

"It's more than that…" As he reached a hand out to turn her shoulder toward him she skipped farther away. "Listen, if we're going to find Chichiri, and the old hag, and you're supposed to save the world from darkness and whatever the hell else this damn world would like to spew out at us, you can't have secrets." He said sternly. "I don't know what your problem is, but you need to be honest. I refuse to move from this spot until you tell me." He said resolutely plopping down on the dirt. She glanced down at him, only partially annoyed with his antics.

After a minute or two she sighed, and backed up against a tree.

"Listen, you'll just think I'm a freak. It doesn't really matter that much." She whispered, brushing her wavy hair forward on one side, pulling the red hair ribbon, and twisting it around until the hair was secured with a thin bow on one side.

"I'm not moving." He challenged again. Sighing, she seemed to shrink further back into the tree.

"Well…I suppose I mu-"

She was cut off by an arm, and knife suddenly darting from behind the tree. A man roughly pulled her away from it, and held her close in front of him. He was a tall, and intimidating man, but young, and strong.

"Tasuki…?"

"Don't talk!" He barked, digging the knife deeper into her pale flesh, and hugging her closer to his chest. "I'm going to take her back to my camp, and if you don't come with everything you've got in twenty minutes some bad things'll happen to her."

His tessen was out, and in front of him in seconds.

"I think you're mistaken. You're going to give her back right now, and we're not gonna' give you anything." He couldn't fire the fan, it would burn Wen too, but there was nothing else to do now.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" The man laughed. Wen squirmed in his grasp, but her nicked her neck, and she stopped at once. She looked as if she was about to cry.

"Put that thing down, Tasuki!" She yelped. Her face was red and splotchy already. Was it…?

She had flinched away when he had touched her, and though they weren't exactly friends yet, and had barely known each other for a day or two, she had to have been more comfortable with him than this guy.

"I said shut up!" He bellowed, threatening the cut.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll just be silent as he burns both of us to death. Imbecile." The man holding her was dumbstruck, but didn't say anymore.

"W-whatever, I'm leaving now." He had already backed up ten feet, dragging Wen across the soft dirt, and grass. "You better come get your girlfriend soon!" He called.

"I couldn't do anything." Tasuki whispered to himself. But now was not the time to get sentimental, he thought. He gathered up his tessen, and sped in the direction of the man.

"Let go of me!" Wen kicked and punched, but to no avail. She was weak, and small, and he was a giant in comparison.

"You're kind of cute for being such a bitch, you know." He laughed. "Hey boys I got one, and she's got a crazy boyfriend who'll definitely bring us what we need. You should've seen the look on his face!" She observed the ten or so other men at the camp. They were all middle-aged, and didn't look too fit.

"Nice work, boss!" One of them shouted.

"I know," he answered cockily, "She's not the prettiest one, is she? But she'll have to do!" The men set up in raucous laughter once again as the man moved into his tent, much larger than the rest, and threw her down onto the floor. He blocked the door, and tied it shut. "I'll kill you if you try to get out, blah, blah, blah…"

"Don't touch me ever again." She hissed from a corner.

"Oh," his eyes perked up, "You don't like that?" He asked greedily.

"Just as much as you like to watch your little sister die." She spat. He froze.

"How do you know about that?" He fell to his knees to be eye level with her, cornering her. "How the hell do you know about that? You don't know me!"

"You touched me." She said matter-of-factly. "And you touched me for far too long. I know everything." It was only a slight bluff, she didn't know _everything_. "Who's Hanako? I wonder how pleased she would be with you doing this."

"S-shut up! You're a wicked bitch!"

"I know I am. It's sort of a defense mechanism. The worse you are to me, and the worse mood I'm in, the more terrible I'll be to you."

"Why would you have any reason to be upset? All you're doing is…is torturing me! That's not how this is supposed to work!"

"I found out my baby brother is dead yesterday. And you sort of just kidnapped me. I have every right to be a terrible person to you."

"You…you don't understand…"

"I wouldn't ex-"

"REKKA SHINEN!" Bellowed a terrifying voice from just outside.

Then a shriek from the men outside.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

The two in the ten could faintly hear a man whimper out something before there was silence again. The bandit man stayed firmly planted on top Wen, being careful not to touch her though. She kept her eyes glued on the tent door.

That didn't prove much point though. The tent was pulled from its pegs in one sweeping motion by the furious man just outside. He appeared to be engulfed in a fiery aura.

"Get off of her now." His tone was deadly. Hurriedly, like he just realized he had been near her, the man flung himself away. Wen popped up from the ground on her own. "I should tell you who I am before I kill you, I suppose. I am Genrou, rightful leader of the Mt. Reikaku bandits, or better known as Tasuki, one of the remain two Suzaku Seven. But I don't need to tell you that for you to be terrified of me."

"Tasuki, please don't kill him!" Wen spurted forward.

"No way in hell! What do you want me to do, just let him be! Let him go on doing this?!" He yelled. She flinched back from his large voice. Loudness, yelling, and true conflict were not things that she relished in.

"No, I mean, I don't really care what you do to him, but you are not killing _anyone_. At least not in front of me!" She answered hoarsely. He glanced from the man, cowering on the ground, and back to the girl with her hands hovering around his arm like she wanted to pull it back, but wasn't quite sure what to do next.

"Alright…" he looked back down at the coward. "You're lucky."

"Thank you! Thank you, so much! You don't know-"

"Rekka Shinen!" A blaze of fire caught the side of the man's face, and withered to the ground in agony. "Let's go." He said almost as soon as the first screams echoed into the forest. Wen, with a hand clamped firmly over her mouth sprinted as far away from the camp as possible. Tasuki lingered behind her. Maybe killing had become too easy, he thought.

"I suppose," she cleared away the small lump in her throat, "I…um, I suppose I should tell you now."

"You don't hafta' if you don't wanna'." His voice wasn't nearly as low as it been, but she still seemed a little afraid of him.

"I will though. It's kind of weird. Whenever I touch someone, or they touch me I can see them. Well…_see them_. I can see their past, what they're thinking, what's…what's inside of them. And when I'm around a lot of people it's worse. All I feel it gets worse. It's like I can feel everyone's pain and joy all at once, and it's brutally terrifying."

"That's…that's got to suck sometimes."

"Yeah…" she absently smiled at the dirt. They had been walking for another thirty or so minutes, but it seemed like no time had passed between bandit camp and now. "I mean, that's why Chiriko and I weren't really close. He loved to hug me, and tackle me, but I would always panic and cry or do something stupid like that whenever we were kids. I think eventually he kind of gave up, and decided that I hated him. He was always civil with me when he got older, but I could tell he was angry."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"By the time he was old enough to understand, and by the time I was ready to tell him, he was never around. I remember wanting to tell him when I was ten, but at that point he was always shut up in the library, and we…he sort of brushed me off."

"I'm sure he knows now."

"Like hell he does. Even he was a…a-a spirit or ghost or whatever, I doubt he would come back to me." She scooped up a pebble from the path, and tossed it in one hand.

"I got to see him. Only a little while ago actually."

"What?" She scoffed, pretending to only be half-interested.

"A few months ago some things were threatened in this world, and Miaka's, she's the priestess of Suzaku, and everyone came back for a little while."

"All of your old friends?"

"Yeah…all of 'em."

She watched him carefully out of the corner of her eye. After a moment she raised an arm to throw the pebble as far as she could.

"Stop being so sentimental."

He seemed to harden almost at once.

"I ain't bein' sentimental!"

"Uh, huh," she muttered. The last time they had had a miniscule scuffle she had been captured by bandits.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"What do you mean?" She sounded too guarded.

"Well you were just captured by some-"

"I'm fine. I'm just tired now." Her eyes were locked on the orange setting sun, and the periwinkle sky.

"And you said I was the whiner!" He looked triumphant.

"Well if you're not then I suppose you can build, and make the fire, and set up everything."

"I don't wanna' do all that…" He muttered.

"This seems like a good place to rest." They had walked off into an off-shoot from the path. A small clearing with soft ground, and covered in leaves. Tasuki fell to his knees, and curled up, hugging his knees to his chest.

"You can make me some food now, I'm hungry. There's some left in the bag."

"Like hell am I making you food. Make your own damn food."

"C'mon, woman, I'm bringing to Chiri, the least you can do is make me something to eat." He groaned an curled into a tighter ball. "Didn't your mother teach you how to be a good girl or housewife or," he yawned, "whatever?"

Her foot collided with his leg. "Get up you sexist cat. Help me with the fire." She had already collected a good amount of wood while they were walking, and had it set up.

"Don't you mean pig?" She gave him a long side-glance. "Sexist pig?"

"No, you looked like a cat curled up, with a stupid toothy grin, and your," she motioned at her teeth, "You're two sharper teeth showing."

"Canines?"

"Whatever. Just light up the fire."

He chuckled under his breath, and pulled out the fan. "Rekka…shinen!" He whispered as she pulled dried meat and bread from his bag.

"Here," she said softly, leaning close to the fire.

* * *

**Yeah, so it's been a while, but I just finished up one fic, and decided to return to this. Sorry about that guys! Updates will hopefully be regular..I'll say about once a week it'll be updated. Anyway, review please, it really helps. Like seriously if I see a review I'll get so happy I'll just write like another chapter, and revise it all in one day. So..yeah, review because I'm needy, and I love you.**


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